JET alums in Nevada?
JETAA Chapters 
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A recent JET alum gathering in Las Vegas?
Message to JET Alumni in Nevada
Dear JET Alumni,
Our office will be traveling to Las Vegas and Reno to recruit for the 2010 JET Program from October 6-9. If you are free during this time we would like to meet with former JETs to discuss the JET Program, future JET events, and the possibilities of forming sub-chapters in these regions. We also will be available to speak to future JET applicants and/or conduct JET information meetings.
Please contact Peter Weber at jet@cgjsf.org with your availability. Below I have listed my availability:
Las Vegas: Thursday, October 6 (free in the evening); Wednesday, October 7 (busy 10:00am – 3:00pm at UNLV); Thursday, October 8 *(free in the morning and daytime)
Reno: Thursday, October 8 (free in the evening); Friday, October 9 (free throughout the day)
Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerely,
Peter Weber
JET Program Coordinator
Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, Attn: JET Program, 50 Fremont Street, Suite 2200, San Francisco, CA 94105; Phone: (415) 356-2462; FAX: (415) 777-0518; www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jet/
Event: Third Annual Japan Writers Conference
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Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) who also serves as the Publicity Assistant for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, shared the following:
Do you wonder what’s the best way to get your ESL textbook into print and to market? Or how you can have your poem catch an editor’s attention? What’s the best way to get that rough draft novel smoothed out and readable? Why is an abstract such a big deal? How do different translators approach a Japanese text? Or more simply, where are the others who share your interest in the written word?
Possible answers to those and almost any other question one might have about writing, editing, translating, and publishing will be offered up at the Third Annual Japan Writers Conference. This year’s Conference will take place on the weekend of October 17th and 18 on the campus of Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto.
More than thirty writers, journalists, editors, translators, film makers and other wordsmiths will offer up their expertise in fifty-minute presentations, filling both days. And what is perhaps most remarkable is the event is completely free and open to all who want to attend. The Conference is a completely volunteer event.
Among those scheduled to present are novelist and children’s book author Holly Thompson, author/anthologist Hillel Wright, columnist Arudou Debito, literary translator Juliet Winters Carpenter, journalist Eric Johnston, article writer John Spiri, and poet Jane Joritz-Nakagawa. Novelist and diplomat Vikas Swarup has also agreed to appear. There are also plans for various writing groups and organizations to hold special meetings to introduce themselves to prospective members. And there will be a gathering for all attendees and presenters at a local restaurant on Saturday evening.
According to Juliet Carpenter, whose school is hosting this year’s conference, the Imadegawa campus of Doshisha Women’s College, across from the Gosho, is “a terrific location, easily accessible. We have a very nice campus that has a brand-new building with state-of-the- art ‘bells and whistles,’ and some beautiful Meiji-era Registered Cultural Property buildings, nicely preserved.”
Although the Conference takes place in Japan and has a decidedly Japanese focus, it will be a predominantly English-language event. It is also an international affair, with presenters from Canada, the US, China, India and other nations. While some of the presenters are Japan residents, others are short-term visitors and will provide a more global perspective on the writing life.
Complete information about the Third Annual Japan Writers Conference can be had at:
JETAA Northern California Newsletter: Summer 2009 Pacific Bridges now online
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Via Mark Frey (Kumamoto-ken, 2002-06), Editor of Pacific Bridges, the JETAA Northern California quarterly newsletter.
The 2009 Summer Issue of the official JETAA NC newsletter, Pacific Bridge, is now available here! Get caught up on all of your local alumni happenings! Read it online here: http://www.jetaanc.org/newsletter.html or in the “Files” area of our Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jetaanc/files/
This issue’s theme is “Tradition.” Read about how alumni like you are keeping up various traditions near you, as well as other goings-on in the JET alumni world, including:
– Upcoming events like the Shobu Cup Dodgeball Match!
– Stories about local super-star alumni
– Taboos broached in SF Japanese discussion group
– New website for JET writers, interpreters, translators and job-seekers: JetWit.com
– JETAANC Scholarship Winner, Lukas Bonick, Three Years Later
– Natsu Matsuri Picnic Report
– JETAA National Conference report
– Oyaji’s advice column
– Top 10 List
– …and much more!
Please send any comments to [newsletter(at)jetaanc(dot) org]. Share your talents and build your portfolio by volunteering for the next issue (we seriously need more help)! Thanks to everyone who helped to produce yet another great issue.
Mark Frey (Kumamoto-ken, 2002-06)
Editor, Pacific Bridge
Roland Kelts column in Daily Yomiuri and appearances at the NY Anime Festival this weekend
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****************Here’s the latest Daily Yomiuri column from Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, from his “Soft Power, Hard Truths” series for the Daily Yomiuri. This one about the giant robot Gundam and AKB48 girl-power at this year’s New York Anime Festival, kicking off tomorrow:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20090925TDY13001.htm
Also, Roland will be at the New York Anime Festival at the Javits Center all weekend and says to JET alums, “Please swing by and say hello if you can.” Here’s his schedule for the weekend:
- Friday, 5:15 to 6:15 pm — Yoshiyuki Tomino (GUNDAM)
- Saturday, 12:15 to 1:15 pm — AKB48
- Sunday, 11:15 am to 12:15 pm — Yui Makino
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Pacific Northwest JETAA Opportunities Forum and Networking Expo – Oct 17
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Hot off the presses from the Pacific Northwest JETAA yahoogroup:
Dear PNWJETAA Members & Friends of PNWJETAA,
SAVE THE DATE for TRANSITIONS 2009!!! – REGISTER TODAY!!! SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17th
“TRANSITIONS: PNWJETAA Opportunities Forum & Networking Expo” is BACK!
The Pacific Northwest JET Alumni Association in Cooperation with the Consulate-General of Japan at Seattle and local businesses and educational institutions is proud to present it annual fall career and opportunities event! In conjunction with the recent return of JETs, who have just completed their contracts in Japan, PNWJETAA is putting together a great program open to all PNWJETAA Members & Friends of PNWJETAA!
- LOOKING FOR A JOB?
- CONSIDERING A CHANGE IN CAREER PATH?
- INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE COMMUNITY?
- SEEKING TO SHARE YOUR SKILLS AND ENERGY FOR A GREAT CAUSE?
- CONSIDERING GRAD SCHOOL?
THEN YOU NEED TO ATTEND: TRANSITIONS 2009: Opportunities Forum & Networking Expo!
ON-LINE PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED, SO REGISTER HERE: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEpYWE9tajBIUG5PTS1jckd1aVE5OWc6MA
This year’s program will include:
- Opportunities Forum:
o Key note speakers who will address the current job market & grad school options
o Panel (based on needs of those who register, this may break into 2 separate panels) with information & advice for:
§ Getting into the job market
§ Volunteering to serve the community & broaden your social & professional networking circles
§ Strategies on how to use your JET experience when applying to grad school
- Networking Expo – Connect with a variety of organizations including:
o Local Companies
o Educational Institutions
o Community Service Groups
o J-LINK Businesses (J-Link is comprised of companies & organizations owned by or endorsed by PNWJETAA Members)
WHEN – Saturday, October 17th, Noon – 5:30 pm
WHERE – Kirkland, WA
ATTIRE – Dress for Success!
COST – $5 for JET Program Alumni who are registered with PNWJETAA* / $10 for Friends of JETs (FOJs) & Guests
Further event details will be provided to those who register for Transitions 2009.
Thanks to a tweet from Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), I just read the news that Yoshito Usui, the creator of Crayon Shinchan, died after falling off of a cliff. Apparently he was taking photos in Nagano and must have slipped.
Here’s the article: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090922a2.html
This is very sad news. I learned Japanese thanks to Crayon Shinchan. No joke. When I went on JET, I subscribed to Manga-Jin, a now defunct magazine that would do line-by-line explanations of manga. It was studying from an issue of Manga-Jin one day that introduced me to Crayon Shinchan.
I was hooked, and I proceeded to buy ever new Crayon Shinchan book I could find. The relatively simple language combined with use of furigana plus the appealingly crude humor that also inadvertently explained a lot of Japanese social dynamics was exactly what I was seeking in those pre-Internet days of JET.
The news of Usui’s death reminded me that I had a sort of fantasy (long since forgotten) where I would track down Usui-san and thank him and let him know how influential he was in my Japanese language study.
Well, that opportunity no longer exists. But if anyone else wants to share any thoughts or memories about their experience with Crayon Shinchan, feel free to post below.
Job: Bilingual IT specialist (Deerfield, IL)
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Thanks to Bianca Jarvis (CIR Kyoto-shi, 2002-05), the Outreach Coordinator at the Japan Information Center, Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago, for passing along this job listing:
Bilingual IT specialist
6 month contract, located in Deerfield, IL. Interviews will be conducted on-site very soon. The rate is in the $20-$25/hr rate.
Requirements:
************ Read More
New York de Volunteer FUNdraiser – Sept 25
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BAPCPA Man #9: BAPCPA Man vs Mortgantua – Part 2
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BAPCPA Man and Bankruptcy Bill are cartoons created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. For more cartoons, original bankruptcy haiku and even a bankruptcy country song, go to bankruptcybill.us.
Click here to see a larger image of the cartoon.
Additionally, if anyone would like to take a stab at translating the cartoon into Japanese for JetWit’s Japanese fans out there, feel free to post in the comments section of this post. Some cultural explanation might be helpful as well, given that Japanese bankruptcy laws are very different than the U.S.
Japan Society (NY) Weekly eNewsletter – Sept 21-27
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JETAA New York Softball Tournament – PHOTOS!
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JET alum Francis Lee took a whole bunch of great photos from the JETAA NY Softball Tournament, held last Saturday, September 12. The winners in the two divisions were Kintetsu and Docomo. (Though JETAA NY was one error away from holding the lead in that game! :-) Special thanks to JETAA NY Vice-Prez Monica Yuki for organizing, to Liz Wanic for captaining the JETAA NY squad and cheering with extreme genki-ness, to Ito-en for once again providing cold, yummy tea drinks, and to all the teams for coming out, having fun and keeping the tradition alive!
Teams (in no particular order):
- JETAA New York
- Japan Local Government Center (JLGC) + Consulate General of Japan in New York (i.e., the parent organizations of JETAA)
- Columbia’s Center on Japanese Economy & Business (ably managed by Jennifer Olayon)
- Kintetsu
- Mitsubishi (featuring Zack Ferguson)
- Docomo
- QUICK USA
- TV Japan (starring Scott & Keiko Hiniker :-)
Dozo shyashin wo mite kudasai!
http://www.columbia.edu/~fl104/Softball
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JetWit knows that a lot of JET alums are interested in working in the fields of international education programs and student services, so we asked future international ed expert Pam Kavalam (Shiga-ken, 2007-09) to talk to some JET alums in the field and share her conversation for the benefit of the JET alumni community:
Spotlight on University Administration
by Pam Kavalam (Shiga-ken, 2007-09)
Are you looking for a career that can utilize some of the skills you learned over in Japan- cross-cultural exchange, working with students, and (for the truly lucky) the offer to travel again? Think about working at a university- either in international exchange or student affairs. I sat down with Shannan Spisak (Kawasaki-shi, 96-98) to talk about her experience from the JET Program to higher education administration.
Tell me about your journey into the field of international education.
Shannan: After I came back from JET, I moved to New York City with a friend and worked at a private Japanese company for 2 years. I decided to switch careers to move into the international arena; the United Nations in particular interested me. I went on a number of informational interviews with fellow former JETs working in the field and they all recommended graduate school. I decided to study Peace Education and International Exchange at Teachers College, Columbia University. In order to finance my education, I took a job working as Assistant to the President of Barnard College while attending classes part-time. During the process of completing my M.A., I realized I had grown more interested in the education component of my degree than its relation to UN work. Consequently, my focus shifted towards seeking a career in international exchange in higher education.
What do you do now?
Shannan: I work at the Institute of International Education (IIE) in the Global Scholarships Division. The IIE is a 90 year-old non-profit organization that runs over 200 programs around the world, including the Fulbright. I manage three international scholarship programs through the GE Foundation and the Chubb Insurance Foundation. I organize the review and selection of applications, notify finalists, award grants, and manage special components of the scholarships such as Leadership Development Seminars and Career Workshops. I also coordinate Read More
Chin Music Press, the Seattle-based publisher owned and run by Bruce Rutledge (MEF Program Chiba-ken, 1985-87) will be well represented at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (16 West 32nd Street, 10th Floor btwn Broadway & 5th Avenue) on Thursday, Oct. 1 from 7-9pm when author Todd Shimoda will be read from his latest illustrated novel, Oh! A mystery of mono no aware. He will be joined by poet Hoa Nguyen, author of Hecate Lochia, and Paulo Javier, author of 60lvboembs.
The event is open to the public and a $5 donation is suggested.
Here’s the book blurb:
Shimoda’s Oh! is a fast-paced story about a young Japanese American whose quest for a richer emotional life sets him on a journey to discover the essence of the Japanese appreciation of beauty (‘mono no aware’), the dark past haunting his psychologist-and-poet mentor, and ultimately involves him in the tragic phenomenon of Japan’s suicide clubs.
Also, in June, Oh! was chosen as one of NPR’s Summer Reading Picks:
“The book itself is a fine work of art, with a gorgeous, embossed cover, rice paper-thin pages, and textured paper inserts with illustrations that offer clues to Zack’s fate — a triumphant kick in the pants for anyone who doubts the future of paper-and-ink books.” — NPR
See previous JetWit posts about Bruce Rutledge here and a Japan Times review of Oh! here.
Interesting side note: One other Chin Music Press employee, designer Joshua Powell (Saitama-ken, 2005-07), is also a JET alum.
Roland Kelts appearances at upcoming New York Anime Festival starting Sept 25
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The New York Anime Festival has announced its bookings for Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, for this year’s event, which commences at the Javits Center on September 25.
Roland will be on with Yoshiyuki Tomino (GUNDAM creator) on Friday, pop sensations AKB48 Saturday, and Yui Makino (voice of TSUBASA) on Sunday.
Here’s the official announcement: http://www.mediumatlarge.net/2009/09/roland-kelts-comes-to-nyaf.html
Event: Why Haven’t They Called Me? What Happens After You Submit Your Picture Book to a Publisher?
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Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) who also serves as the Publicity Assistant for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, shared the following:
Why Haven’t They Called Me? What Happens After You Submit your Picture Book to a Publisher
with Kerry Martin, Senior Designer, Clarion Books
Time: Saturday, September 26, 19:00-20:30; portfolio reviews 17:30-18:30
Place: Tokyo Women’s Plaza, Conference Room 2
5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
(by the Children’s Castle and United Nations University)
For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm
Fee: SCBWI members 1,000 yen; non-members 1,500 yen
Additional fee for Portfolio Review.
This event will be in English. Japanese interpretation will be available.
Private Portfolio Reviews are available from 17:30 to 18:30. Contact info@scbwi.jp to reserve your ten-minute slot. Portfolio Reviews must be paid for in advance: SCBWI members 3,500 yen; 4,000 yen non-members.
You’ve submitted your book dummy, sketches, or art samples and wonder why the phone isn’t ringing yet. Kerry Martin, Senior Designer at Clarion Books in New York City, will discuss the process of creating a picture book from initial sketch stage to the finished product, including what goes on behind the scenes while you wait for a response. Also discussed will be the dos and don’ts of sending unsolicited art samples. Private portfolio reviews will precede the discussion.
Kerry Martin grew up in Rhode Island and graduated from Parsons School of Design, New York City, in 2001. After graduating, she worked at a design studio, a letterpress print shop, and several magazines. She has been designing children’s picture books, novels and nonfiction for young adults with Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in New York, since 2002. She travels to Japan as often as she can to visit her husband’s family in Tokyo and Yokohama.
www.scbwi.jp info@scbwi.jp
